Is this a good buy?

[mpsparrow]

For a while now I have wanted/needed a powerful server to use as a web server, Minecraft server, photo server, and more. I do have a Dell Precision 690 although it is slow and I am having ram detection issues and stuff.

 

So jump to last week where I got a message from a friend asking if I wanted his 8 300gb 15k SAS drives for free. I would be stupid not to say yes as even if I couldn't use them I can always flip them for a few bucks.

 

Now I am looking for some good server options that could run these 8 SAS drives. After some searching and some help from the LTT forum I have found one that looks good.

 

I found this refurbished HP Proliant DL380 G7 on ebay for $290 CAD ($230 USD). It comes with dual E5645 (for a total of 12 core 24 threads) and 32GB of DDR3. Has from what I can tell 8 SAS compatable hotswap spots in the front. Seems like a perfect fit for what I want to do with it. Thoughts?

 

[NowThatsDamp]

I used the Proliant drawers back in the pre-hyperthreading quad core days.

Great hardware.

Be ready for a little bump in your power bill though... That'll be a 500w unit with all those drives in there, so it'll cost $20 a month to run.

If that doesn't bother you, server on baby.

[mpsparrow]

8 minutes ago, NowThatsDamp said:

I used the Proliant drawers back in the pre-hyperthreading quad core days.

Great hardware.

Be ready for a little bump in your power bill though... That'll be a 500w unit with all those drives in there, so it'll cost $20 a month to run.

If that doesn't bother you, server on baby.

My current 690 is pulling about 350w doing basically nothing, so 500w is not the different for the huge amount of power I will gain with it.

[NowThatsDamp]

1 minute ago, mpsparrow said:

My current 690 is pulling about 350w doing basically nothing, so 500w is not the different for the huge amount of power I will gain with it.

Alright perfect then

[Pixel5]

is your internet connection fast enough to do what you want?

 

For the power this thing will consume you could almost rent a dedicated server and not have to deal with anything related to network speeds.

[mpsparrow]

9 hours ago, Pixel5 said:

is your internet connection fast enough to do what you want?

 

For the power this thing will consume you could almost rent a dedicated server and not have to deal with anything related to network speeds.

My internet connection will be fine for a light web server and random Mine craft server.

 

I don't think I would be better off. First off where could I get a dedicated server even close to those specs without paying over $150 CAD month. Once I do the initial payment of buying this server then at most it will cost me $40 a month for power. Also if I go away for a while or am not using the server I can just turn it off and then it costs me nothing. That is far harder to do on a dedicated server where I would need to keep the $100 a month payments rolling.

 

So sure it would be easier and probably faster, but it will end up costing me far more.

[NelizMastr]

I have a DL380G7 myself (I have the more hungry X5650 chips) and it idles around 100-140W with 8 15K SAS drives, so it's not that bad if you're not maxing it out CPU and disk wise. Mine also has 80GB RAM by the way, so it should give a general idea on the power consumption. Really not that bad.

 

You need to use HP 2,5" SAS drives, though, or you'll go deaf. Mine is pretty quiet with a typical average of 17% fan speed.

[mpsparrow]

9 hours ago, NelizMastr said:

I have a DL380G7 myself (I have the more hungry X5650 chips) and it idles around 100-140W with 8 15K SAS drives, so it's not that bad if you're not maxing it out CPU and disk wise. Mine also has 80GB RAM by the way, so it should give a general idea on the power consumption. Really not that bad.

 

You need to use HP 2,5" SAS drives, though, or you'll go deaf. Mine is pretty quiet with a typical average of 17% fan speed.

That is better then I thought then. I don't know what brand of drives my friend is giving me yet, but hopefully they are good ones. Although sound isn't a huge issue because I can just put it in a closet in the basement.